Resounding victory sends Northern Highlands to Public B state hockey final by Greg Tartaglia of The Record
MORRIS TOWNSHIP – The atmosphere at Mennen Arena seemed rather muted, at least until Northern Highlands got back to the dressing room.
Then arose the sounds of a hockey team headed to its first state final.
The No. 2 seed Highlanders cranked up the music and cheers to celebrate their 6-1 victory over No. 11 Princeton in the Public B semifinals. That lifted them into Monday’s 6 p.m. state championship game at Prudential Center in Newark, where they will face top seed Randolph.
As an added bonus, Northern Highlands (21-5-1) set a program record for wins in a season.
The Randolph-Livingston semifinal was the game immediately preceding Northern Highlands-Princeton. With the Rams playing on their home ice and Livingston a 20-minute ride away, both schools brought sizeable fan sections.
The late start time and a long drive for Princeton fans left Mennen’s Rink 1 much more empty for the nightcap, though a hearty contingent of Highlander faithful responded as the final seconds elapsed.
“I’m sure having a fan section [at Prudential Center] will definitely help us,” Northern Highlands captain Joe Konvit said. “Tonight, we just used our own willpower and fought through three periods for the ‘W’.”
QUARTERFINALS: Northern Highlands on doorstep of Public B state final
PUBLIC C: Summit closes out Glen Rock in semifinals
Highlander senior Jin Lee opened the scoring 57 seconds into the game, then made it 2-0 with 36 ticks left in the first period. James Cerepak scored in the first 1:13 of the second period, and Lee completed a hat trick on the power play 4:17 into the third.
“We’ve got [assistant] Dean Portas on staff, who was the Ramsey coach when they won states two years ago,” Northern Highlands coach Jason Beswick said. “And he said the first five minutes are critical, especially against a team that was on a hot streak.”
Princeton (18-9-2) had pulled two straight upsets to reach the semis, including an overtime win against 2017 state champ Ridge in the quarterfinals. The Little Tigers’ lone goal came from Keith Goldberg late in the second, but by that time, the damage had been done.
Lee added a pair of assists to finish with five points, while Sean Vlasich assisted twice, and Aidan Connolly had a shorthand goal and an assist.
James Cerepak and Jack Sparago also scored for the Highlanders, who held Princeton to one shot on goal in the final period to help netminder John Werber (13 saves) secure the win.
“It’s been a goal all year to get to The Rock and win that game,” Lee said. “We want rings.”
No. 1 RANDOLPH 5, No. 4 LIVINGSTON 0: The Rams (22-1-3) reached their eighth state final in 10 years after winning five Public A titles in that span.
William Zimmer scored both of his goals in the first period and later added an assist. Randolph also got two points each from James Mattson (two goals), Michael Sofia (one goal, one assist) and JT Zangara (two assists).
Goalie Scott Kimiecik needed to make just 10 saves in the Rams’ third straight shutout. They have outscored their three state tournament opponents by a combined 17-0.